Green Building News
Maryland Green Building Council established
The members of the Maryland Green Building Council have been appointed by Governor O'Malley in October and are to submit recommendations for green building legislation for the state by end of this year.
The Great Seneca Creek ES SERT (Student Eco Response) Team, affectionately known as “the green team,” has been working hard to bring the first LEED school in Maryland to your desk. Team members, all fourth graders at Great Seneca, gave up numerous lunch and recess periods to create a “virtual tour” of their new school, highlighting its sustainable, green features.
The tour, soon to be posted on the school’s website, explains all things green – from the geothermal exchange system hidden 515 feet below the athletic field to the colorful bathroom partitions made from over 100 varieties of recycled plastic. Visitors to the site (the website, that is) will stroll the school, cyber-style, and hear the students explain the sustainable aspects of the facility in their own words and in their own voices. The PowerPoint tour has built-in audio narrations recorded by the students.
Roll out the red carpet! The official premier will take place during the dedication ceremony of Great Seneca Creek ES on Saturday, April 28 at 1:00pm. A big thank you to our volunteer intern Rachel Gutter for creating this masterpiece and working with the students at the school.
Great Seneca Creek ES Is First Maryland LEED-certified School
It’s official now: Great Seneca Creek ES is the first public school in Maryland to be certified by the U.S. Green Building Council with its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system.
The new school opened in September 2006. Great Seneca Creek earned a top “Gold” rating April 18 after all the construction documentation had been reviewed by the council.
Great Seneca Creek is the MCPS Green Building Program’s (www.Schools2Green.org) first school built to green, high-performance design standards that also pursued LEED certification. The LEED rating system awards points in six categories for conserving resources, reducing air and water pollution and optimizing indoor quality. Little Bennett ES, which opened at the same time as Great Seneca Creek, also incorporates many energy-efficient green school elements.
At Great Seneca Creek, the 82,500 square foot facility is equipped with a geothermal mechanical system that harvests the constant temperature of the earth for heating or cooling the building. This is expected to reduce energy use by more than 35 percent, for an estimated $60,000 in annual energy savings.
Because of the energy efficient design, Great Seneca Creek ES is expected to earn an Energy Star from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Energy Star Program for schools this fall, when the energy bills of the first year in operation can be submitted and compared with the national database of energy efficient schools.
The building’s plumbing uses no-flush technology and low-flow water fixtures that will reduce drinking water demand by at least 43 percent, compared to other buildings of its type—an estimated savings of 360,000 gallons of water each year.
The Department of Facilities Management used the LEED system as a roadmap in designing the energy efficient green school. Ninety-five percent of the packaging and construction waste of the school were recycled. Most building materials came from local sources within 500 miles of the site. Some of the buildings components, such as bathroom partitions, are made of recycled materials such as plastic from soda bottles and laundry detergent containers. Cabinets are made of wheatboard, a rapidly renewable material that is an alternative to particle board (which is made of wood and mature trees).
Great Seneca Creek ES is also piloting a healthy, high performance “green” cleaning program, where several cleaning products have been replaced by a one healthier alternative.
Green signs and school tours create a hands-on connection between the building and the building users. Students and staff, neighbors and the Germantown community are learning how a building and its features impact the environment, and how negative impacts can be reduced or even avoided by building greener.
Montgomery County’s first LEED school also provides a three-dimensional textbook and teaching tool that advocates environmental stewardship. A web site dedicated to the green features of the school can be viewed at www.Schools2Green.org and will feature a virtual tour of the building created and narrated by students at the school.
Tours Site tours of Great Seneca Creek ES can be arranged by contacting the Green Building Program Manager, Anja Caldwell at 240 314 1095 or by e-mailing Anja_S_Caldwell@mcpsmd.org.
Based on latest Montgomery County legislation, all public buildings beginning design in FY 2008 will be required to achieve a LEED certification, including schools.
Montgomery County Council passed a Green Building Bill that requires all buildings funded by the County for more than 30% to be LEED Silver certified. This is for all construction more than 10,000 sf and goes into effect September 1st, 2008.
The new policy will be reflected in the upcoming MCPS High Performance Green Building Plan 2007.
On December 7th the MCPS Green Building Program will have a booth at the Ecobuild Federal, the largest local green building conference and Expo of the year.
The booth was graciously donated to us by the organizers and we welcome the opportunity to educate the general public and goverments about our program's details and success stories.
Please stop by to see us!
Awards for Distinguished Services to Public Education to Green Building Program
Montgomery County Board of Education
2006 - 10th Annual Awards for Distinguished Services to Public Education
Purpose: The Montgomery County Board of Education established the Awards for Distinguished Services to Public Education in 1997 to recognize and show appreciation to individuals, groups and organizations that have made exemplary contributions to public education in Montgomery County.
Category MCPS Staff
“The Green Building Program for the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), managed by Ms. Anja Caldwell, has made significant contributions to excellence in school design. The program conducts green building pilots to test new technologies and reviews all school construction for energy efficiency and environmental design, including resource conservation and environmental health issues.
The projects have resulted in significant water and energy savings in existing buildings and in new facilities being designed and completed.
Through the Green Building Program, MCPS has greatly improved the environmental friendliness of its buildings by comprehensive revisions of its new construction design guidelines over the past three years. The revision incorporates best practices from the widely recognized Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system of the Unites States Green Building Council.
The Green Building Program has established the MCPS Department of Facilities Management as a regional and national leader in healthy, high-performance school design that is in line with the school system’s commitment to leadership and excellence. The program focuses on providing energy-efficient and healthy schools while advocating environmental stewardship among students and staff. This program benefits the environment as well as the health of students and staff, and their ability to learn and teach.”
Check out this new website on anything there is to know about the green and LEED features of Great Seneca Creek ES in Germantown, including useful links to other O&M resources for MCPS staff and community members
Q&A of Anja S. Caldwell on green portables and the green building program at MCPS
Check out what the Washington Post has to say about water saving plumbing at MCPS...
Article by Elizabeth Williamson
